Fly-catcher.



Patented Dec. I0, |90l.'

A. L. CLARK. FLY CATCHER.

(Application iled Mar. 1, 1901.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES UNTTTLD STATES Tricia PnTnNT OF ONE-HALF TO HORACE J.

MIER, OF RUTHERFORD, NET JERSEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 688,717, dated December 10, 1901.

Application led March l 1901.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known 'that I, ARTHUR LLEWELLYN CLARK, a subject of the King of England, residing at Rutherford, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flyf Catchers, of which the following is a full and complete specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains 1o to make and use the same.

This invention has especial reference to that class of devices for destroying' flies and other insects in a house or dwelling which are in practice suspended from a ceiling or I 5 other overhead support and which comprise vertically-arranged cords or strings and a suitable adhesive-containing holder through which the strings are charged; and the object of my invention is to provide a simple, cheap,

2o readily-constrncted, and perfectly-operatng device of this character by means of which the strings or cords may be drawn through the reeptacle and at one operation discharge ott such flies as have been caught thereby and simultaneously recharge with adhesive, making them ready to catch others, a further object of the invention being to provide means whereby two strings may simultaneously be chargedffat one operation, and a final object 3o being to provide improved means for containing the adhesive-charging material and for retaining it in its holder while permitting ready access thereto for refilling.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists, primarily, ot` a fly-catcher comprising a suitable adhesive-containing holder provided with means for suspending it from a ceiling or other overhead support and two strings inserted through the sides of 4o the holder and extending diagonally therethrough and through the opposite sides and crossing each other and provided at each end with stops limiting their movement through the holder, whereby both strings or cords in practice depend from the holder and may by pulling upon their upper ends be drawn .through the holder, the flies thereon removed, and the cords recharged with adhesive, so that by letting them falltheywill again de- 5o pend from the holder ready for use.

Secondarily, it consists of such a ily-catcher Serial No. 49.440. (N0 model.)

so constructed in which the holder is made of two interitting parts and supported in a vertical position with its line of division vertically arranged and having the cords or strings passed through the same from each side, as described, whereby when the device is in 0perative position the two parts will have lno tendency to separate, but will rather tend to be retained together; and,tertiarily, it con- 6o sists of a fly-catcher so constructed of a separable holder having a vertical line of division of its parts and the cords or strings passing therethrough, as described, and a su pportinghandle connected with the projecting parts upon the outside of the separating parts and so formed and arranged that the said handle tends to hold the parts together when the device is suspended by the said handle, while yet it will permit intentional separation of 7c:4 the parts Without disconnecting the handle.

In theaccompanyingdrawings,forming part of this specification, in which like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in the several views, Figure l is a front elevation of a device embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation thereof with but a portion of the depending cord shown, and Fig. 3 is a central vertical section taken upon the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

In the practice of my invention I construct an `adhesiJe-containing holder 5, preferably cylindrical in form and composed of two separable parts 6 and 7, the latter of which ts over and upon the former in the manner of a box to inclose the same. Upon the outside of each of the members 6 and 7 is an approximately rect-angular or octagonal plate 8. These plates 8 form, with the separable parts 6 and 7, a spool on which cords or other f'leXi- 9o ble devices may be wound.

The part 6 is in practice filled with an adhesive material 9, which is preferably of such character as to remain in a plastic condition. This material may also be poisonous to insects, if desired, and it maybe sweetened in order to attract the flies or other insects more readily.

Through the side plates 8 I insert the ends of flexible cords, strips, or tapes lO, which are roo two in number, and these cords, strips, or tapes are preferably composed of brous inatel-iai. As shown in the drawings, they are passed laterally and diagonally through the adhesive-containing holder 5 and through the walls of each part thereof, and the said cords, strips, or tapes cross each other in the center of the said holder. Each of the cords is provided at each end thereof with limit-ing stopsor heads ll and 13, which in practioe,as shown in thedrawings, are produced by knotting the cord.

To the upper edges of the side plates S, centrally thereof, are secured or inserted the angularly-turned ends of the V-shaped hanger l2, the topof which is formed into a loop by means of which it may be suspended from a ceiling or other overhead or depending or projecting support.

`In assembling the parts the cords are inserted diagonally and crossingthe two members of the holder and their ends knotted or otherwise provided with the limiting-stops l1 and 13. The hanger is then secured to the holder by inserting itsangular lower eudsin the side plates bl. If the device isto be marketed immediately, or nearly so, the box is then filled with the adhesive material f). It' a material is used which is not very moistor peuetrative or likely to become impaired by remaining in the holder for a time, it is preferable to lill the boxes before marketing the devices, whether this filling may be accomplished before or after the goods are sold, either by the manufacturer or the consumer. The said filling and also the refilling from time to time of the holder maybe accomplished by separating the parts of the holder, soA as to leave the main or wider part G open to receive the adhesive material. By reference to the drawings, and particularly to Fig. 3 thereof, it will be seen that in the separation of the members they are each capable of pivotal movement upon the angular lower ends of the hanger 12, which is inserted through the side plates S, and that they may be swung outwardly by the separative movementwithout removing them from the hanger. Where such removal is for any purpose desired,it is manifest that one of the inwardlyturned ends of the hanger, or both of them, may be sprung outwardly to disconnect the hanger from one or both of the plates 8. The operation of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the advantages resultant from the use of my invention will be manifest to all who are conversant with devices of this character.

Assuming the implement to be suspended as shown in Fig. 1 and it being desired to use the same, the limiting stops or knots 11 are seized by each hand and the cords thereby drawn outwardly, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, so that each will pass through the holder from one side to the other, crossing the opposite string, and may then be dropped down on the opposite sides of the holder to that which they occupied before this movement, and the previously lowermost knots 13 will thereby be drawn upwardly into contact with the holder and will limit this movement of the cords and prevent their removal from the holder and prevent the lower ends getting lost in the holder. This movement of the strings through the holder or receptacle causes them to be coated with the adhesive material, and the iiies will congregate upon and will adhere to the same. After the cords have become su fticientl y coated with the insects the knots 13 which are then in contact with .the sides d of the holder are seized and the cords are again drawn through the holder, this time in the opposite direction, by which action all of the flies are scraped from the cords, while at the same time the latter are recharged or recoa-ted'with the adhesive -material and will fall down again on the opposite sides of the holder. This action may be continued from time to time until the implement wears ou t,the holder being refilled, as required, in the manner hereinbefore set forth.

It will particularly bc observed from Fig. 1 that by my invention I am not only enabled to recharge both strings simultaneously and let them depend in what is practically the same position as before and that I do this without changing the position of the holder or removing it from the support from which it maybe suspended, but that, moreover, the weight of the coated strings and their degree of adhesiveness to the outer sides of the holder will tend to hold the parts together against horizontal swinging or separation, and it will especially be observed that the hanger l2 will also hold these two parts together and that there can be no force tending to separate the parts in the suspension of the device as shown in Fig. 1, While all the parts are freely separable by proper and purposed manipulation.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A iiy-catcher comprising an adhesive- `containing holder constructed of two intertting parts provided with means for supporting them in a vertical position from asuitable support and having their line of division vertically arranged, and a plurality of cords, strips or tapes inserted through the sides of the holder and extending diagonally therethrough and through the opposite sides and crossing each other and provided at each end with stops limiting their movement through the holder and by means whereof the cords may be seized by either end thereof.

2. A fly-catcher comprising an adhesivecontaining holder formed of two interiitting separable parts having in the effective position of the device a vertical line of division, cords, strips, or tapes inserted through the sides of the holder and extending diagonally therethrough and through the opposite sides and crossing each other and provided at each IIO eser/1r end with stops limiting their movement through the holder, and a handle or hanger connected with the sides of the separate parts and tending to hold the same together when the device is suspended by the said hanger adapted to permit intentional separation of said parts.

3. A iiy-catcher comprising an adhesivecontaining holder formed of two separable parts having a vertical line of division in the effective position of the device, cords strips or tapes inserted through the sides thereof and extending therethrough and adapted to be drawn therethrough to discharge the ilies and recharge Ithe said cords with adhesive, and a V-shaped hanger 12 having its ends inserted throughthe sides of the said parts and tending to hold the parts together when the device is suspended by the said hanger, the said parts being movable upon the ends of the said hanger.

4. A ily-catcher comprising an adhesivecontaining holder composed of two separable interfitting parts provided with projecting side plates, two cords, strips or tapes extending diagonally through the sides of the holder and through the opposite sides and crossing each other and provided at each end with integral stops limiting their movement through the holder whereby both cords, in practice, depend from the holder and may by pulling upon their upper ends be drawn through the holder, the flies thereon removed andthe cords recharged with adhesive so that by letting them fall they will again depend from the holder ready for use; said holder in the effective position of the device having a Vertical line of division or separation of its parts; a V-shaped hanger 12 having its lower ends angular and inwardly turned and inserted through the side plates of the parts of the holder whereby when the device is suspended from the said hanger it will tend to hold them together, the said side plates being movable upon the angular inturned ends of the hanger whereby to permit intentional separation of the parts after the charging or recharging of the adhesive-containing holder.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of the subscribing witnesses, this 27th day of February, 1901.

ARTHUR LLEWELLYN CLARK.

Witnesses:

F. A. STEWART, L. R. BAYER.' 

